Photo credit: John Pai

In our series of Allovus Hidden Talents, we are highlighting the wonderful, and often not work-related, talents of our Allovus family.

It’s pretty amazing to find these talents among our extraordinary team members, and the word “extraordinary” certainly does apply to our own Brick George. Brick’s hidden talent is… singing in one of Seattle’s most renowned performing groups, the Seattle Men’s Chorus.

In his current role at Microsoft, Brick is industrially working as a Content Editor, responsible for the Visual Studio guidelines. But in the evening, he’s busy rehearsing for an amazing holiday extravaganza with the Seattle Men’s Chorus, called Silver and Soul, now playing at Benaroya Hall.

Allovus: How did you first learn about the Seattle Men’s Chorus?

Brick: I started out as a fan. The first exposure I had to the chorus was back in 1993 when they performed Cole Porter music with Harvey Fierstein in a PBS special. I was blown away. I was an outgoing and very theatrical kid. But, you know, I went to Catholic school. There wasn’t a lot of that kind of stuff for me there. But the performance completely blew me away. To see 200 gay men on stage and to be able to think, “One day, that could be me.” That was amazing.

Allovus: How did you wind up auditioning for the group?

Brick: Let me back up a little. I went to Washington State University as a vocal major. But I wasn’t quite ready for school and ended up leaving to work at call centers, retail, etc. I went back to school in 2001, switching my major from music and theatre to journalism, thinking I would have better options for jobs. I did really well, and after college, I got an internship at the News Tribune and later went on to get a job at the King County Journal. Unfortunately, the Journal folded. I was devastated. That’s when the idea to audition for the chorus came along. It was where I needed to be. I believe that very firmly. Music saves lives. Art saves lives.

Allovus: Were you nervous about getting in?

Brick: I was really, really nervous. This was a top-notch chorus and they do challenging repertoire. This was serious business. I was really apprehensive about getting in, but I probably needn’t have been. There are 200 guys, all with different levels of experience. I had been a vocal major and had done show choir. So, I had the chops. It turned out okay.

Photo credit: John Pai

Allovus: Do you have any favorite shows you’ve performed with the chorus?

Brick: The one that resonated the most for me was called Scared Faithless. We had oldy- moldy hymns and some lighter material. It was the best way of combining my youthful experience in Catholic school and my adult outlook on faith. It combined the past and present, and helped me to figure out my own views. That concert was also where I had my first solo with the chorus. The piece was called God Help the Outcasts from Hunchback of Notre Dame. It’s a great number. From start to finish, it touched something inside of me.

If you’d like to support Brick and go see a fabulous Christmas show, you can get tickets here:

TICKETS